Interview with Daniel G. Herrera
This is an official leadership recall account of Daniel G. Herrera as written by Dan himself.
Biographical Sketch
I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on February 22, 1973. My birth was premature due to my mom slipping on the ice and breaking her water. All was okay; I just spent some time in the incubator. I have an older brother, Rick, and a step-sister, Jennifer and step-brother Steven. Most of my first 18 years was spent living in the suburbs of Milwaukee, with a brief two year stint living near the shores of the Jersey coast in Bricktown. I graduated from Germantown High School in 1991. In school, I was on the diving team participated in drama, FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) and Forensics. I decided to follow my brother and attend the University of South Florida from 1991 through 1996. My major was Chemical Engineering. In addition to my studies, I participated in numerous student groups and often held leadership positions. I was homecoming chair in 1996 with a $100,000 budget and also President of the USF Ambassadors. In fall of 1999, I decided to return to school and obtain an MBA with emphasis in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Leadership. My first job was with Engineering Matrix, Inc. a local MEP consulting firm. Since then I have worked for several consulting firms: Engineering Professionals, Inc., Affiliated Engineers, Inc., Kenyon and Partners, Inc. Currently I’m employed by the University of South Florida as a Mechanical Engineer for the Facilities Planning and Construction Department.
Interests and Hobbies
I enjoy watching and participating in sports. Currently I compete in triathlons (while the times aren’t fast to place, the challenge and camaraderie is worth it). So in order to train for the races, I also run, swim and bike separately as well, including mountain biking. I have also played a variety of coed sports such as flag football, softball, kickball and beach volleyball. To add to the outdoors, I also enjoy golf. When it is rainy, too cold or I’m just plain tired, I enjoy reading, mostly action thrillers. If there is time, I’ve been known to experiment with cooking and wine sampling.
Reasons for entering the Engineering and HVAC Industry
With a background in Chemical Engineering, thermodynamics has always been a strong point for me. I have just narrowed down my chemicals to two specific ones: air and water. I started the University already interested in engineering; math and science were my strong subjects in high school. When it was time to schedule my second semester classes, I wanted to take Chemistry II Lab. My advisor said only chemical and mechanical engineers had to take that course. At that point, I decided chemical engineering was the way to go. When I graduated, I was hired by a consulting firm that trained me in HVAC.
My first job was Engineering Matrix, Inc. in the fall of 1996. It led me down a path into MEP consulting engineering the major challenges I was facing at the time was Competition.
In the mid-90s the Tampa Bay area was flooded with MEP consulting firms that were all spin-offs from some of the original companies, I remember many of the Principals came from Delta Engineering. Also, the time of Energy Audits was complete and many consultants were all competing for the same pool of school contracts, the economy was right before the booming of the late 90’s.
I first got involved in ASHRAE and the local Chapter when I attended the FWC Shrimp Boil in 1998, Don Crosby was very active in ASHRAE back then and he was handing out flyers around the office. Once I started working at Engineering Professionals, Inc. Gary Stenlund was very instrumental in my ASHRAE involvement. He immediately encouraged membership and involvement. When he was President of FWC, I was newsletter editor. We had a great time with that. To this day, I think Gary had some of the best articles, of course with a great picture to match!
Involvement with ASHRAE and the Florida West Coast Chapter
Once I became a member and got involved, it was only a matter of time. My election date was October 31, 1999. It started with newsletter, then student activities when John Wells, III was president, next thing I knew, I was on the Board, and moving quickly, secretary, treasurer, 2nd VP – Membership, 1st VP – Research, President Elect – Programs/CTTC and finally President. Currently I am RVC – Membership (2008).
As I mentioned before at that time when I first started in engineering, competition was fierce. Now a bit more than ten years later, we are in a mild recession. The economy is terrible, fuel prices are rising, the country was still at war and a presidential election was right around the corner. People are begging for change, but it is hard to put a finger on what it will cost. If there is a positive, the high fuel costs (both in gas and power) are causing building owners to be more conscious of sustainability, equipment to be more efficient than it has ever been before. Just looking at the recent ASHRAE themes, “Greater Efficiency Today: Blue Skies Tomorrow” and “Maintain to Sustain”. See the article I wrote at end of this FWC Leadership Recall.
Major Issues facing the Industry
At the time of this writing the following facts highlight the status of the industry:
These are some staggering figures, because of this, ASHRAE has been getting more and more involved with groups such as the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) not only to explain the importance of ASHRAE standards used in current building codes, but to explain why it is so important and ASHRAE’s mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education. Also even though it’s still in review, ASHRAE Standard 189 – Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings except for Low-Rise Residential Buildings is being written that it can be interpreted as code, this will help counties, municipalities and states encourage high performance design.
People who stand out as major influences
The list people that have stood out to influence me in is endless. The few I’ve mentioned above, Gary Stenlund, John Wells. Others that have really given me an atta-girl are Ross Montgomery (to me – he is Mr. ASHRAE), Rob Risley. One of the up and comers that says a lot of “WOW” is Jason Alphonso from Central Florida. He was just working on the side as a drafter when I met him, trying to finish his Masters degree at UF. Fast forward a few years later and he took a small grass roots group of students and young ASHRAE members into annual contenders for the Student Design competition to being an instrumental part in the start-up of YEA – Young Engineers in ASHRAE. I also feel fortunate to see the hard work of some of the Delegates and Alternates at CRC. I enjoyed learning from Mike Dillard and everything he did to make Central Florida such a strong chapter.
Events Changing ASHRAE
Once again, due to economy and the new focus on sustainability, ASHRAE is becoming more of a household name as it relates to LEED. Finally, architects are taking a moment to learn about ASHRAE and its depth of knowledge.
If your product in the HVAC industry is not ASHRAE or ARI endorsed, or even documented, then there is little success available to you. The technical committees of ASHRAE are very thorough on product development and research, they have to be.
Advice to young engineers entering the field
First, open your mind, ask questions, questions that start with “how” and “why”. Of course, join ASHRAE, but more importantly, attend the meetings. The presentations are only an hour, and they touch on a variety of topics, take that opportunity to learn something new
Humorous Events
Too many to tell, or at least they will need to be PG rated. Seriously, my friends I have made in ASHRAE have been very important to me over the past ten years. We got pictures from Shrimp Boil with people wearing parrots on their head, engineer’s banquets where I found a “secret bar” and many a CRC where friends were made in the hospitality suite. It’s just exciting to think there is more to come!
Here is a relevant article I wrote for the local chapter newsletter
Keeping it Cool with ASHRAE
That’s my personal selected theme is for this year. There’s more to this statement other than the obvious. GLOBAL WARMING. Just recently, former Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Gore has quoted, “The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.” This week, the NBC Today show has continued a focus on climate change as well, pointing out not only the changes to the environment in Antarctica, the Arctic and the Equator, but nature’s beauty that exists there. This is also an issue that no longer causes a divide in political parties. In late September Republican Governor of Florida Charlie Crist and former Democratic President Bill Clinton announced that Florida will be part of a $2.4 billion Clean Energy Program that will produce a major Solar Power Plant associated with FPL in Jupiter, FL. Worldwide, U.S. was part of a unanimous vote to accelerate portions of the Montreal Protocol which focuses on reducing the effects of Global Warming. However, it’s not all gloom and doom. About 18 months ago I visited Cozumel, Mexico. The island had been severely wiped out by the hurricane season six months prior. Last week I visited again. The island had been rebuilt and was thriving. If science and engineering can rebuild the effects of one of Mother Nature’s most ferocious disasters, science and engineering can also help with man’s destruction. A couple of technologies are being explored to prevent the excess carbon dioxide build-up that causes global warming as well as other solar protection devices. Solar umbrellas are thin discs that could be launched into space to protect the Earth from the Sun’s rays as the ozone becomes depleted. Carbon capture would capture carbon dioxide from the largest emission producers and dissolve or pool it into the oceans. Another concept is the Geritol Effect in which iron dust would cause algae blooms that would absorb excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The Volcanic dust method would add tons of sulfates to the stratosphere to mimic the cooling effects of volcanic eruption. These methods all seem extreme, have extraordinary costs and could potential harm other ecosystems. There are other less extreme methods – SUSTAINABILITY. Sustainability does not only focus on the environmental impact, but it has two other components that are not as obvious. It must be financially feasible to ensure Governmental and corporate backing and it must have a social impact that makes it acceptable and endorsed by humanity. Last month I participated on a panel regarding Sustainability. I was fortunate that I could speak not only about ASHRAE Standards 62.1 and 90.1, but I was pleased to announce the collaborative effort of ASHRAE, IESNA and USGBC to produce ASHRAE Standard 189 – Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. We as members of ASHRAE have opportunities to participate in the exploration of sustainable efforts as well as incorporate it into our designs, equipment selection and education of our constituents. Let’s keep it Cool with ASHRAE!